I want to use a sump on my new 120g. I'm very reluctant because I'm deathly afraid of a flood. The tank is in our family room with a new carpet.
The tank is not drilled and I was going to to make my own overflow. I have a spare 20g long tank I was planning on using. From what I've read, 600gph seems to be a good flowrate from the overflow. I used the "overflow calculator" on RC and it says I need a 1" dia. drain pipe for 600 gph. That's great. It also says I need 9 linear inches of overflow. I understand that too, but what about the teeth? The overflow I was planning on making would be black acrylic with "teeth" on three sides. One thing I don't know is how many teeth does the overflow need to give it 600gph capacity and what are the width and length of the teeth.
To maintain the siphon in the overflow pipe I was going to tap into the overflow pipe at the high point and attach a piece of tubing from that tap to the venturi connection on a powerhead that will be in the sump. Good idea? Also what diameter does the pipe that brings the water from the overflow to the sump need to be? Is the 1" from thr RC calculator correct?
Next confusion: If the overflow is delivering water to the sump at 600gph, then the return pump needs to also be 600gph max. If it's more then you'll be returning water to the display tank faster than it's overflowing and the display tank will spill over, right? The height from below my cabinet to the top of the display tank is about 4 ft. I have to take that "head" into account when I size the return pump as well as losses in the return piping and fittings, right? But what about the baffles in the sump. Do you have to account for losses as the water goes over and under baffles? If you do, how do you do that?
Baffles in the sump, that's yet another question. How many do I need and how tall are they? I'm not planning on a fuge in the sump, so my first guess is I need three baffles. These are the kind of questions I have. Can help me?
Thanks
The tank is not drilled and I was going to to make my own overflow. I have a spare 20g long tank I was planning on using. From what I've read, 600gph seems to be a good flowrate from the overflow. I used the "overflow calculator" on RC and it says I need a 1" dia. drain pipe for 600 gph. That's great. It also says I need 9 linear inches of overflow. I understand that too, but what about the teeth? The overflow I was planning on making would be black acrylic with "teeth" on three sides. One thing I don't know is how many teeth does the overflow need to give it 600gph capacity and what are the width and length of the teeth.
To maintain the siphon in the overflow pipe I was going to tap into the overflow pipe at the high point and attach a piece of tubing from that tap to the venturi connection on a powerhead that will be in the sump. Good idea? Also what diameter does the pipe that brings the water from the overflow to the sump need to be? Is the 1" from thr RC calculator correct?
Next confusion: If the overflow is delivering water to the sump at 600gph, then the return pump needs to also be 600gph max. If it's more then you'll be returning water to the display tank faster than it's overflowing and the display tank will spill over, right? The height from below my cabinet to the top of the display tank is about 4 ft. I have to take that "head" into account when I size the return pump as well as losses in the return piping and fittings, right? But what about the baffles in the sump. Do you have to account for losses as the water goes over and under baffles? If you do, how do you do that?
Baffles in the sump, that's yet another question. How many do I need and how tall are they? I'm not planning on a fuge in the sump, so my first guess is I need three baffles. These are the kind of questions I have. Can help me?
Thanks